JOIN USHonour for epigraphist on Sunday
As eminent historian and epigraphist H S Gopala Rao turns 77, his peers and admirers are honouring him with the publication of a felicitation volume on Sunday.
In a span of five decades, Rao has discovered about 300 new inscriptions and published transcripts in ‘Epigraphia Carnatica’, which documents the epigraphy of the Old Mysore region.
He also helped renowned historian Dr S Shettar by editing volumes on Kannada inscriptions from the first millennium and worked on Kannada inscriptions found in Tamil Nadu, 120 in all.
About some top discoveries during his career, he counts an inscription he found in Jalagaradibba in Tumakuru district that could be older than the inscription found in Halmidi (450 AD), for long considered the oldest extant Kannada inscription.
“I also edited research material about the second inscription of Kappe Arabhatta from Badami,” says Gopala Rao.
Kappe Arabhatta was a warrior from the Chalukya empire known from a Kannada verse inscription, dated to the early 8th century.
A resident of Arasinakunte, near Nelamangala, Gopala Rao writes regularly and lectures extensively across Karnataka, and has served as the general secretary of the Karnataka Itihasa Academy from 1986 to 2006.
Stone inscriptions tell us about dynasties and their empires. Many Kannada inscriptions are found in present-day Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, just as some Tamil inscriptions are found in present-day Karnataka, he says.
Talking about Kannada inscriptions and the geography they cover, he says: “If we are speaking about the Ganga dynasty (250 AD to 973 AD), many inscriptions are in Sanskrit but are written in the old Kannada script. The farthest Kannada inscription found is one at Jura in Madhya Pradesh, from the period of Krishna III (950 AD) of the Rashtrakuta empire. Some Kannada inscriptions were also found in Varanasi.”
Historical fiction
Gopala Rao, who started out by writing novels (‘Jenu Nanju’, ‘Gati’, ‘Parigrahana’, and ‘Bhinna’), later immersed himself in epigraphy and history. He is now working on a work of fiction.
“I have started writing a historical novel. I have written three chapters about a heroic character from the Hoysala period,” he says.
At 77, Rao wants to write more about Karnataka history, especially its temple and cultural history.
Looking back on his life, he says high points include studying a diploma in electrical engineering, discovering epigraphy and switching to history, and writing about the unification of Kannada-speaking areas for a book published by Navakarnataka Publications.
Writer Ham Pa Nagarajaiah, historian M G Nagaraj, chief editor D V Parashivamurthy, are among the many dignitaries speaking about Gopala Rao.
Justice Santosh Hegde, former Lokayukta, releases a felicitation volume in his honour.
*Felicitation and book release at Mythic Society, on November 20, 10.30 am.